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Some emails in my local folders cannot be read

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  • Last reply by David

David
David
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I've recently had reason to try to clean up my email, particularly getting rid of defunct email accounts. However I wanted to save the emails themselves, so was going to move them to an archive under Local Folders.

Unfortunately, I'm finding that a lot of emails from these old accounts (as well as some emails in folders of my still active accounts) cannot be read in Thunderbird. The header information shows up in the view panel (from address, subject, date, etc), but the contents of the email do not display (the preview window is entirely blank), and attempting to copy the email fails.

I've dug into the profile directory and found the underlying Inbox file that stores the email, and all the emails are there. They just can't seem to be read or manipulated by Thunderbird for some reason. Also, if I try to View Source on the email, I just get a blank window.

In most cases, the unreadable emails are from 2012 or earlier, although not all such old emails are unreadable. Some are HTML, some are plain text, and other emails of both HTML and text variety work fine. I haven't found any obvious correlation in the problem.

I'm on 128.11 esr. The accounts used POP, and the emails are stored locally.

Any help on this issue is appreciated.

I've recently had reason to try to clean up my email, particularly getting rid of defunct email accounts. However I wanted to save the emails themselves, so was going to move them to an archive under Local Folders. Unfortunately, I'm finding that a lot of emails from these old accounts (as well as some emails in folders of my still active accounts) cannot be read in Thunderbird. The header information shows up in the view panel (from address, subject, date, etc), but the contents of the email do not display (the preview window is entirely blank), and attempting to copy the email fails. I've dug into the profile directory and found the underlying Inbox file that stores the email, and all the emails are there. They just can't seem to be read or manipulated by Thunderbird for some reason. Also, if I try to View Source on the email, I just get a blank window. In most cases, the unreadable emails are from 2012 or earlier, although not all such old emails are unreadable. Some are HTML, some are plain text, and other emails of both HTML and text variety work fine. I haven't found any obvious correlation in the problem. I'm on 128.11 esr. The accounts used POP, and the emails are stored locally. Any help on this issue is appreciated.

Chosen solution

re:Unfortunately, I'm finding that a lot of emails from these old accounts (as well as some emails in folders of my still active accounts) cannot be read in Thunderbird. The header information shows up in the view panel (from address, subject, date, etc), but the contents of the email do not display (the preview window is entirely blank), and attempting to copy the email fails. That can mean a couple of things.

Either - the index is out of synch with the actual mbox file that stores the emails. This might occur if you use an Anti-Virus program which has attempted to fix the mbox file and messed it up. But try this:

  • Right click on folder and select 'Properties'
  • Click on 'Repair folder'
  • click on 'OK'

If emails reappear then it was index out of synch. If it looks like emails have disappeared then they have either been already deleted or may be 'marked as deleted'.

But you said "profile directory and found the underlying Inbox file that stores the email, "

OR maybe the emails have been 'marked as deleted' and just hidden from view. Try this:

  • Exit Thunderbird - this is important.
  • Access profile folder and look for the account 'Inbox' mbox file - it will not have any extension.
  • Open the Inbox mbox file using a text editor program like Notepad++

Oldest email will be at the top. Each email will start lines like this: this is an example

  • From - Sun Dec 28 18:14:40 2014
  • X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
  • X-Mozilla-Status2: 00800000

Use 'Edit' > 'Find' Look for this line: X-Mozilla-Status: (not X-Mozilla-Status2:)

  • Make sure the X-Mozilla-Status: has the number 0001
  • Save the file.
  • delete the 'Inbox.msf' file. A new one will be auto created.
  • Start Thunderbird.

If emails were marked with eg: 0009 then they would be 'marked as deleted' and hidden. Report on whether this worked. See images below as a guide.

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All Replies (2)

Toad-Hall
Toad-Hall
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Chosen Solution

re:Unfortunately, I'm finding that a lot of emails from these old accounts (as well as some emails in folders of my still active accounts) cannot be read in Thunderbird. The header information shows up in the view panel (from address, subject, date, etc), but the contents of the email do not display (the preview window is entirely blank), and attempting to copy the email fails. That can mean a couple of things.

Either - the index is out of synch with the actual mbox file that stores the emails. This might occur if you use an Anti-Virus program which has attempted to fix the mbox file and messed it up. But try this:

  • Right click on folder and select 'Properties'
  • Click on 'Repair folder'
  • click on 'OK'

If emails reappear then it was index out of synch. If it looks like emails have disappeared then they have either been already deleted or may be 'marked as deleted'.

But you said "profile directory and found the underlying Inbox file that stores the email, "

OR maybe the emails have been 'marked as deleted' and just hidden from view. Try this:

  • Exit Thunderbird - this is important.
  • Access profile folder and look for the account 'Inbox' mbox file - it will not have any extension.
  • Open the Inbox mbox file using a text editor program like Notepad++

Oldest email will be at the top. Each email will start lines like this: this is an example

  • From - Sun Dec 28 18:14:40 2014
  • X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
  • X-Mozilla-Status2: 00800000

Use 'Edit' > 'Find' Look for this line: X-Mozilla-Status: (not X-Mozilla-Status2:)

  • Make sure the X-Mozilla-Status: has the number 0001
  • Save the file.
  • delete the 'Inbox.msf' file. A new one will be auto created.
  • Start Thunderbird.

If emails were marked with eg: 0009 then they would be 'marked as deleted' and hidden. Report on whether this worked. See images below as a guide.

Modified by Toad-Hall

Helpful?

David
David Question owner
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The second option helped. I didn't have to mess with the status numbers, but deleting the .msf files and letting them be recreated fixed all the folders with bad behavior.

Thank you.

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